Bluffton to examine 'ghost roads' in Old Town

Scott Thompson/Bluffton Today Maiden Lane is located between Boundary Street and Bruin Road. It is not owned by any known entity.

Scott Thompson/Bluffton Today Lawrence Street, east of Boundary, is a dirt road that provides access to about five homes.

Scott Thompson/Bluffton Today Green Street is a heavily-used road in Old Town by May River Montessori School and patrons of restaurants and shops along Calhoun Street. However, it is not owned by the town or any other known entity.

Scott Thompson/Bluffton Today Dubois Lane, located between Calhoun and Wharf streets and between Lawrence Street and May River Road, provides access to about eight homes and is considered to be in good condtion.

Green Street is a well-traveled road in the heart of Bluffton’s historic district between Huger and Heyward coves.

It provides access to about five homes, is used as a drop-off and pickup point for May River Montessori School and is traveled by several pedestrians, particularly on Bluffton Farmers Market days.

The issue: It’s not owned by the town or any other government entity, according to officials.

Green Street is just one of several “ghost roads” throughout Old Town — totaling more than a mile in length — that are public rights of way, but are not owned by the town or any other public body such as Beaufort County or the South Carolina Department of Transportation.

Some of the roads are actively-used dirt or partially-paved roads. Others are either private drives or are in densely wooded areas.

On Tuesday, Town Council directed town staff to examine the roads, develop a list of those considered high-priority and work toward acquiring them. Doing so, transportation project manager Karen Jarrett said, would allow the town to improve, widen, more easily maintain and ensure future public use of them.

Acquiring the land and either improving or building roads could also allow for additional water and sewer connections, Jarrett said.

“In some cases, (acquiring the roads) would be to make sure people don’t build on them,” Jarrett said. “In other cases, there’s a big benefit to the roads being set aside as rights of way so we can go in and maintain it and pave it or put gravel down.”

Jarrett said the town has worked behind the scenes on identifying the ghost roads for the last several years. Jarrett and staff found several after examining a 1913 study of Old Town conducted by the town and also referred to an earlier file on the roads that was never acted on, she said.

Though the roads are public and won’t come at a cost, the process of obtaining them would be extensive, Jarrett said.

“In order for us to get clear title to them and call them town rights of way, we’ll have to engage a surveyor to survey the right of way and provide us with a survey plat,” Jarrett said. “We’ll also have to engage (town legal staff) and have them approach property owners to make sure no one has any objections to the right of way being dedicated.”

Jarrett said four of the roads identified in the 1913 survey provided direct access to the May River, but have since been acquired and built over, preventing water access.

“These roads were seen as important to the town 100 years ago, and I agree with them 100 percent today,” Jarrett said. “I’d hate to lose any more of them, especially anything that connects to the river.”

Mayor Lisa Sulka said the preservation of the ghost roads is important for Bluffton’s historical heritage.

“If we lose them now or soon, we’re losing them for future generations,” she said.

Councilwoman Karen Lavery said thinking proactively about the roads is the best solution.

“People are putting property up for sale these days, and it might just get all boggled and messed up if we don’t act on the important ones,” Lavery said.